EETimes Junko Yoshida publishes an explanation of Mobileye self-driving car demo where the car passes a junction on red light:

"The public AV demo in Jerusalem inadvertently allowed a local TV station’s video camera to capture Mobileye’s car running a red light. (Fast-forward the video to 4:28 for said scene.)

According to Mobileye, the incident was not a software bug in the car. Instead, it was triggered by electromagnetic interference (EMI) between a wireless camera used by the TV crew and the traffic light’s wireless transponder. Mobileye had equipped the traffic light with a wireless transponder — for extra safety — on the route that the AV was scheduled to drive in the demo. As a result, crossed signals from the two wireless sources befuddled the car. The AV actually slowed down at the sight of a red light, but then zipped on through."

Tuesday, May 22, 2018

"Electric charge generated by incident light are increased by avalanche multiplication phenomenon inside the photoelectric conversion film. The film can be overlaid on a CMOS circuit with a low breakdown voltage because avalanche multiplication occurs at low voltage in crystalline selenium, which can absorb a sufficient amount of light even when thin."

BusinessWire: Baltimore, MD-based Pixelligent's Zirconium oxide capped nanoparticles (ZrO2), a high refractive index inorganic material, with a sub-10 nm diameter with functionalized surface, is said to have a potential to contribute to sensitivity of CMOS image sensors. The company announces $7.6M in new funding to help further drive product commercialization and accelerate global customer adoption.

Although Pixelligent lenses for image sensor applications have been announced a couple of years ago, there is no such product on the market yet, to the best of my knowledge. In 2013, the company President & CEO Craig Bandes said: "During the past 12 months we have seen a tremendous increase in demand for our nanocrystal dispersions spanning the CMOS Image Sensor, ITO, LED, OLED and Flat Panel Display markets. This demand is coming from customers around the globe with the fastest growth being realized in Asia. In the first quarter of 2013, we began shipping our first commercial orders and currently have more than 30 customers at various stages of product qualification."

"In the area of CMOS image sensors that capture the real world in which we all live, and are vital to KANDO content creation, aim to maintain Sony’s global number one position in imaging applications, and become the global leader in sensing.

Through the key themes of KANDO - to move people emotionally - and "getting closer to people," Sony will aim to sustainably generate societal value and high profitability across its three primary business areas of electronics, entertainment, and financial services. It will pursue this strategy based on the following basic principles.

CMOS image sensors are key component devices in growth industries such as the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles, and more. Sony's competitive strength in this area is based on its wealth of technological expertise in analog semiconductors, cultivated over many years from the charge-coupled device (CCD) era. Sony aims to maintain its global number one position in imaging and in the longer term become the number one in sensing applications. To this end, Sony will extend its development of sensing applications beyond the area of smartphones, into new domains such as automotive use.

...based on its desire to contribute to safety in the self-driving car era, Sony will work to further develop its imaging and sensing technologies."